LINK-WRN-01

Owned by Jonathan Tew
May 07, 2020
2 min read

If you’re reading this page then you’ve received an automated notice on your order. The notice is triggered on an order whenever a direct link to the checkout is used which does not include a “Referer” header (yes, the HTTP specification spelled Referrer incorrectly).

UltraCart takes spam and abuse complaints very seriously. Spam is against section 3.1.3 of the UltraCart Terms and Conditions of Service. If you are going to email customers with buy links directly to your checkout the email MUST:

  1. Be sent from your domain. So if your checkout is secure.mycompany.com then the marketing email must come from @mycompany.com.

  2. Contain no redirector URLs for the purposes of obfuscating the traffic source.

  3. Comply fully with the CAN-SPAM Act.

  4. Be sent to customers that you have directly acquired and not through purchased email lists.

We take the operation of the UltraCart platform very seriously for the sake of all our merchants. If you are in violation of these rules the process will be:

  1. First report - a warning with a copy of the abuse complaint. Immediate action must be taken to correct the behavior that was reported as abusive and in violation of these rules.

  2. Second report - disable the ability for a buy link to be used that does not provide a “Referer” header.

  3. Third report - suspension of the account for a period of time or termination depending upon the severity of the behavior solely at the discretion of UltraCart.

What if I’m seeing this warning on an order and I know it’s not from email? As long as we are not receiving spam/abuse complaints about the traffic then it’s OK. Consider the following scenario.

  1. Make sure that your site is hosted with https:// protocols. Browsers will NOT send a “Referer” header if the page with the link is http://. Upgrade your site to and URLs to https://

  2. You could be placing test orders using a direct buy link. That is OK.

  3. You could be sending traffic from an application or social media application that may cause a “Referer” header to not be sent. That is OK.